Epiphany Healthcare Blog

Every hospital has a workflow with the goal to deliver the best patient care at appropriate cost.  Yet, did you know that 24.9% of tests are unnecessary partially due to difficulty accessing prior medical records?

Making a hospital’s workflow more efficient can improve the quality of patient care. Products such as Epiphany Healthcare's Cardio Server improve workflow processes.  Cardio Server is an ECG management system that connects test results directly with electronic medical records (EMRs), streamlines the reading of diagnostic studies, and ensures that previous results are always available.

Improve Your Clinical Workflow In Three Easy Steps

1. Identify Workflow Woes - Let Epiphany Analyze Your Workflow

Epiphany can look for ways to improve your current workflow.  Ask others who are a part of the workflow how they think it could improve.  Look for patterns in peoples’ answers to find holes in your process.  Follow different types of workflow users for parts of their day to see what their pain points are.  Then the following questions can be answered:

• What steps are removable?
• What steps are able to be automated?
• What do physicians find most frustrating? 
• How well do your software systems work with your EMR?
• Do your physicians have to log in to several software programs?
• What are the challenges of managing diagnostic test results?
• What challenges do different departments have regarding workflow?
• What parts of your current workflow are essential to keep?
• What is the average time spent with patients?
• What seems to be the overall satisfaction of the patients?

Start Your Workflow Analysis

2. Get Buy-In Early – Epiphany Can Help You Prepare for the Right Workflow Wins

Too often, key decision makers feel that technical changes are being imposed upon them.  Get the leading physicians and power users involved from the beginning.  Ask them what in the workflow can improve to save time in their day.  When you show physicians how you are trying to make these improvements happen; they will be supportive of the workflow changes.

When you put in place changes to end these daily problems, decision-makers will believe in the improvement method.  Physicians say they want it all, Epiphany can help you get it for them. 

Here is an example of how Epiphany Healthcare helped the physicians at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

3. Implement Workflow Wins - Epiphany Can Create Strategies for Optimization

Now that you know the problem areas of your workflow and you have buy-in, let's find a solution for each pain points.  Here are ways that Epiphany Healthcare can turn your workflow woes into wins.

• Use one software program to manage all cardio-pulmonary tests from many hospitals and facilities. Here are Epiphany’s ten requirements for a multi-modality ECG management system. 
• Simplify your clinical workflow by working with your devices, EMRs, and unique challenges.
• Epiphany Healthcare’s Cardio Server integrates with all EMRs.
• Whether you are paper-based or are already using an ECG management program, Epiphany offers a migration path.
• Use a mobile platform that enables providers to access and edit ECG data from anywhere with iOS devices. With Cardio Server Mobile, information is secure, responsive, and easy to use. 
• Stop Revenue Loss by using graphical data and customized reports from Epiphany Analytica.
• Cloud services simplifies data management by reducing server requirements, storage, and IT costs. Save your hospital time and resources to focus on delivering the best patient care.
• Remove manual steps from your process with Rhythm Strip Management or Modality Worklist.

Your hospital's clinical workflow should run with the same finesse as an experienced surgeon.   It should run with software that helps keep your team's attention and focus on patient outcomes.  Deliver optimal patient care by letting Epiphany Healthcare turn your workflow woes into wins.

Sources:

https://www.epiphanyhealthdata.com/

https://www.imprivata.com/customer-success/best-practices/analyzing-clinical-workflows

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20181103/NEWS/181039969/raising-the-stakes-it-s-getting-harder-to-be-a-top-tier-heart-hospital

https://www.imprivata.com/customer-success/best-practices/engage-care-providers

https://hbr.org/2016/11/4-steps-to-sustaining-improvement-in-health-care

https://getreferralmd.com/2016/08/30-healthcare-statistics-keep-hospital-executives-night/

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5587107/

Imagine using one software program to manage all the different cardio-pulmonary diagnostic tests in your organization from multiple hospital facilities. Epiphany’s Cardio Server simplifies clinical workflow by working with your current devices, electronic medical records (EMRs), and unique challenges.

Are you thinking about implementing an enterprise-wide healthcare IT solution? Epiphany has helped many enterprise hospital systems consolidate multiple ECG management systems and migrate legacy ECG data into Cardio Server. For example, Hospital Sisters Health System is a multi-institutional health care system comprised of 13 hospitals in 12 communities that chose Epiphany for their Enterprise ECG Management System. Indeed, many IDNs use Cardio Server as their workflow solution.

Maximize Your ECG Management System

Cardio Server is scalable and flexible. It can manage multi-modality, multi-vendor integrations within your enterprise. It has comprehensive HL7 messaging. Cardio Server supports multiple EMRs from different sites integrated through one single solution.  Epiphany communicates with all major EMRs, including:

Affinity	Clinview	HMS	NextGen	Vista
Allscripts	CPSI	Iatric	Opus	Siemens
Athena	eClinical	Keane	Prognosis	Meditech
Centricity	Eclipsys	McKesson	Pulse	Heartland
Cerner	Epic	Medhost	Quadramed	ChartMaxx

Easily Migrate To Cardio Server

For hospitals with an existing ECG management system, Epiphany can migrate your legacy data into Cardio Server.  Epiphany extracts ECGs from the source management system, processes the data, and then loads the processed ECGs into Cardio Server. After migration, you have full functionality on legacy data including serial comparison and calipers.

Beyond migration of legacy data, Cardio Server supports multiple time zones for enterprises that extend beyond a single region. It has flexible patient identification criteria for multi-sites lacking enterprise-wide, unique patient IDs. It can also be configured to link orders for inpatient procedures. Cardio Server can reside on your infrastructure and is compatible with your backup and virus protection plans. It is also completely nonproprietary when working with diagnostic devices.

Epiphany makes it easy to start using Cardio Server. When you pair that with Epiphany’s commitment to exceptional customer service, Cardio Server is an ideal enterprise solution for IDNs. Epiphany believes that interoperability in healthcare leads to better patient care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epiphany Healthcare created a way to use the clinical data from Cardio Server to give hospitals the advantage of improving their workflow and saving money with its new Epiphany Analytica™.  Analytica™ is a graphical, data-analysis tool that allows hospitals to identify trends and determine how departments and staff are performing.  With Analytica™, hospitals evaluate staffing requirements, workload distribution, and potential training needs by comparing metrics over time.  Analytica™ allows hospitals to identify the cause of delayed billing and stop revenue loss.

Pat White, Product Manager at Epiphany Healthcare, had this to say about Analytica™, "Analytica™ gives the customer quantifiable data to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for workflow and billing improvements.  By objectively measuring data, management can create a strategy to improve performance and eliminate lost revenue.  Analytica™ establishes a baseline and then identifies trends with subsequent, scheduled reporting.”

 

Epiphany Analytica™ shows the average time an ECG waits for an order, shows if the order was auto-reconciled, and shows the time taken to confirm the study.  Data can be broken down by site, technician, and reading physician.  Reports are scheduled to run as often as needed, per the hospital’s specific requirements, and then delivered automatically by fax, email link, file drop, or printing. 

A hospital that recently enhanced their Cardio Server with Epiphany Analytica™ described it this way; “It makes operational tasks, administrative tasks, and follow-up much easier for the end user by having the data represented in a graphical easy to understand format.”

*Epiphany Analytica™ is a product-enhancement of Epiphany’s Cardio Server.

 

At Epiphany Healthcare our goal is to provide technology that doctors can use to help them deliver the best patient care. Epiphany Healthcare’s Cardio Server has so many beneficial features. We don’t want our customers to miss using any of them. This is why Epiphany Healthcare has created its new Learning Center. This new online Learning Center has a modern design and easy navigation; it was built with healthcare professionals in mind. The Epiphany Learning Center is:

Conveniently Self-Paced

Epiphany Healthcare created an optimized online training tool for today’s busy medical professional. Learning should be convenient for the fast-paced environment of today’s hospitals and clinics. Epiphany Learning Center students learn at their own pace, in their own time, with guided start and stop videos, and downloadable documents.

Exceptionally Knowledgeable

Epiphany Healthcare wants its customers to succeed in getting the most out of Cardio Server. Epiphany Healthcare’s new Learning Center provides the knowledge that will give doctors power to utilize all the features of Cardio Server. Whether a new user or a seasoned user, who wants to learn more tips and stay current with Cardio Server upgrades, Epiphany's Learning Center will provide the knowledge you need to take full advantage of the software.

Overall Effective

The Learning Center was designed to create a profound learning experience. Each learner has their own custom page with courses that apply directly to them. Here are five reasons why online learning can be more effective than enrolling in a face-to-face training course.

Along with customized courses, the homepage of the Learning Center provides access to Epiphany Healthcare's blog, information on upgrades, and easy access to Epiphany’s renowned customer service.

Have questions about the new Learning Center?

 

 

Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease

When you think of red hearts this month, please don’t think only of Valentine’s Day. Please think of a healthy heart life for America, and a healthy heart life for you. February has been named American Heart Month for a good reason. The reason is because heart disease is the leading cause in American deaths. Here’s some knowledge to give you the power to reduce your risk.

WHAT

Heart disease, also known as cardiovascular disease, is generally known as blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. However, other heart conditions that hurt your heart’s muscles, rhythm, or other functions are also considered a form of heart disease. There are many heart disease symptoms.

WHO

Now that you know what it is, it’s important to know the heart disease facts, and who is at risk.

• Heart disease in the United States represents 1 in every 4 deaths.
• It is the number one cause of death in both men and women.
• 1 in 3 deaths in women are from cardiovascular disease and stroke.
• Heart disease and the conditions that lead to it can happen at any age.

Who is at risk? Everyone. Everyone is at risk, however some people have a much higher risk of having heart disease than others.

WHY

There are many conditions and lifestyle behaviors that can increase your risk of heart disease. Half of all Americans have at least one of the top three risk factors for heart disease (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking). Knowing which risk factors apply to you and if you can do something to lower your risk is the first step in prevention. Other conditions and lifestyle choices that can put you at a higher risk for heart disease include:

• Diabetes
• Overweight and obesity
• Poor diet
• Physically inactive
• Excessive alcohol use
• Genetics

REDUCE YOUR RISK

Understanding heart disease and knowing which risk factors pertain to you are two integral steps towards cardiovascular health, but they are useless if they don’t lead you to action. Taking appropriate action against any of the risk factors above can reduce your risk of heart disease or even reverse damage to the heart. Even in cases where the factors are beyond your control, like those concerning age, gender, and heredity, taking any of the following actions can help minimize your risk.

• Quit Smoking: The Surgeon General has called smoking "the leading preventable cause of disease and deaths in the United States." Quit now and start decreasing your risk of heart disease immediately.
• Maintain a Healthy Weight: Don’t just lose weight, keep it off and greatly reduce your risk of heart disease.
• Exercise on a Regular Basis: 20 to 60 minutes per day regularly, three to five times per week.
• Eat Healthy: Lean meats, low-fat dairy products, and foods that are low in cholesterol, added salts, fats or sugars.

Epiphany Healthcare wants you to be heart healthy. Begin your life-long path to cardiovascular health by utilizing the tips above. Help someone else by sharing these tips with your friends and family.

MIDLOTHIAN, VA, January 4, 2019 – With the mission to simplify the collection and management of diagnostic test results, Epiphany Healthcare is excited to announce its new mobile platform, Cardio Server Mobile.   This new responsive web technology enables providers to access and edit ECG data from anywhere with iOS devices.

Cardio Server Mobile is designed for and supports iOS smart devices, which makes it responsive and easy to use. Information is secure with no patient data remaining on the device after the Web session is ended.  

Steve Fetrow, VP of Engineering at Epiphany had this to say about Cardio Server Mobile, "Security and potential HIPAA violations were a key driver for the development of Cardio Server mobile.   Customers described how the medical staff used their smartphones creatively to handle emergent cardiac issues. They would photograph 12-lead ECGs and insecurely message the image to physicians for an emergency overread.  Cardio Server Mobile can reduce the risk of HIPAA violations by securely displaying the diagnostic quality ECG and provide access to previous ECGs on any authorized user's iPhone or iPad."

About Cardio Server:

Epiphany’s Cardio Server is a cost-effective, web-based management system that receives, manages, and exports diagnostic test results to the EHR. Cardio Server is vendor-neutral and communicates with over 260 devices from over 80 vendors. Cardio Server provides easier integration since it accepts data from 23 different modality types such as PFT, stress, Holter, patient monitors, and more.

About Epiphany Healthcare:

With over 900 hospital customers worldwide, Epiphany Healthcare is committed to serving its customers’ needs through product innovation, the delivery of exceptional service, and an unwavering dedication to improving clinical workflow. Discover why Epiphany is the preferred provider when managing multi-vendor, multi-modality diagnostic test data. For more information, please visit http://www.epiphanyhealthdata.com, follow Epiphany on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EpiphanyHealthcare/) Twitter (@epiphhealth), or Linkedin (http://www.linkedin.com/company/epiphany-healthcare).

 

 

We are thankful for our customers every day, especially during this Thanksgiving Season. As employees of Epiphany Healthcare sit around their tables this holiday season, we want you to know that at the top of our thankful list is you, our customers. Here are a few reasons why.

1. For Your Gifts To The World

The work you do to make the world a healthier place is life altering and lifesaving. You are the healthcare heroes, we are simply allowed to contribute to the tool belt that assists you in providing the best patient care.

We have the utmost respect for all of our customers and the caliber of healthcare professionals that you all are. Over 900 hospitals around the world have put their trust in us and we are very appreciative and thankful for every one of you.

2.Without You We Couldn't Give Our Gift To The World

To be able to assist you in the delivery of the healthcare you provide is why we, at Epiphany, come to work each day. Recently our employees were asked why they are thankful to work for Epiphany Healthcare. There was an overwhelming response of, “because of our amazing customers and how we are able to help them help others.” Here are a couple of direct responses.

Barbara Cotton, Implementation Specialist, “What we do makes a difference. I have seen this in my personal life since my family has a history of heart disease. And I love that we are like family.”

Brandon Baker, Project Manager, “The impact our product has on the clinicians and doctors and patients. Hearing the doctors come back and say ‘this is a great product’ gives a purpose to what I do, how I invest my day. The world is a better place because of what we delivered!”

We are thankful that we can assist our customers in any way to provide the outstanding customer care they deliver each day.

3. You Help Us Build Better Software

You help us improve our technology. You speak up about things that can be improved and we listen. We value your feedback. It is your suggestions that drive what goes into our future software updates. This supports our mission of assisting you in providing the best patient care. It’s our goal that you will always have access to the best quality product and services that we can provide for ECG workflow management.

This year has been a big one for Epiphany Healthcare with the many new products and upgrades that have released. We are looking forward to another outstanding year serving your workflow needs. We wouldn’t be here without you and we are so thankful for you!

Happy Thanksgiving from Epiphany Healthcare!

Does your hospital have any of these problems: delayed billing resulting in lost revenue, workflow noncompliance, understaffing/overstaffing, and/or training issues?

What if you could use clinical data from Epiphany Healthcare’s Cardio Server to help you improve your workflow and save money by identifying clinical inefficiencies for remediation?  Wouldn’t you want to?

By helping you pinpoint problem areas in your hospital’s operations, Epiphany Healthcare enables you to forecast staffing needs, evaluate performance metrics for staff, clinics and organizations, and schedule reports with automatic delivery.  How can we do all of that?

Leverage Data to Drive Quality Improvements.
Request More Information.

Introducing Epiphany Analytica™!

Your Reporting Source for Improved Workflow

• Capture the right metrics across your organization. Epiphany Analytica™ identifies costly trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Identify the cause of lost ECG revenue. Epiphany Analytica™ delivers the data needed to inspire change.
• Leverage easy-to-read graphs to provide insight to those who own the process. Precisely measure and display data-driven reports.
• Utilize data to encourage quality improvements. Equip your organization with the right tools at the right time.

Analytica™ allows hospitals to examine historical data to identify trends and get a sense of how departments and staff are performing.  With Analytica™, hospitals evaluate staffing needs, workload distribution, and potential training needs by comparing metrics week-to-week, month-to-month, or year-to-year.  The automated reporting schedule is customizable based on the hospital’s needs.  Automated report delivery eliminates delays and the risk of human error.  Analytica™ graphs measure progress toward meeting goals and performance targets.

Leverage data to drive quality improvements.  If you can’t measure the process, you can’t improve the process. Analytica™’s operational monitoring provides a snapshot of the health of your workflow.

Determine at a glance the efficiency of reading physicians and sites.  The unconfirmed-to-confirm time report from Analytica™ presents data on how long an ECG waits in the unconfirmed status to be read by the physician.  In some states insurance companies will deny the claim if it is not processed within a specific time frame?  This report allows evaluation of the readers’ efficiency in confirming a study, which is tied to how quickly the bill can go out. Delayed readings cause revenue loss due to late billing.  With this report see:

• Average time studies spend in the unconfirmed status
• Average time in unconfirmed by site
• Confirmations by site
• Average time by provider to confirm studies
• Number of studies confirmed by provider

Evaluate Technicians that Perform ECGs before Receiving Order Studies Missing Orders

Hold your staff accountable by finding trends and quickly identifying the day of the week and the time of day when there is an increase in studies without orders.  This report will shed light on the following:

• Number of studies missing orders by weekday and time of day
• Number of studies missing orders by each technician
• Number of studies missing orders by site
• The technician who performed each study

Evaluate the Effectiveness of Training and Tech Performance Create to Promote Time

 

Find out the average time from creation-to-promote by each technician with this report.  Determine the sites and technicians who are following protocol.  This report provides data on the time required for ECGs to reconcile to an order and be made available to the reading physician and the following:

• Shows percentage of studies that auto reconcile in 10 seconds or less
• How long it takes to get the study to the provider’s box to be read
• Shows percentage of studies that have delayed reconciliation and the average delay
• Average time each site took to promote a study to the unconfirmed status where the provider can read it

Capture the right metrics across your hospital and use them to make your clinical workflow as efficient as possible. Equip your organization with the right tools at the right time to communicate the full picture.  Identify the cause of lost ECG revenue by using clear graphical data. Analytica™ can identify costly trends in the clinical environment. Let it help you.

 

 

Is the hospital you work for your home away from home?  Do you want your hospital to be the best it can be?  Do you see room for improvement but don’t know how to improve the efficiency of your hospital?

Most efficiency problems in any industry come down to one thing—communication.  The old saying, 'communication is the key to any good relationship,' also applies to the doctor/patient relationship.

If you can improve communication processes, you could cut costs while improving healthcare.  More fluid communication can reduce the time it takes for nurses and doctors to do their jobs.  More fluid communication allows doctors the ability to provide patients with more timely test results and care to reduce patients’ fear while waiting for the unknown.  

Here are three easy ways to streamline your hospital's communication and workflow.

Request a FREE Workflow Analysis

Make Your Hospital More Efficient by Simplifying Your Cardiology Workflow

Epiphany’s Cardio Server ECG Management System

Leave paper and the delays in its processing in the past.  Epiphany's Cardio Server ECG Management System has an intuitive user interface and is IT friendly.  It allows you to pull up ECG data and other diagnostic test results from anywhere in the hospital.  You can view ECGs from an iPhone or iPad or leverage our new Cardio Server Mobile Application.  This digital access eliminates the need for paper copies.  A doctor can easily pull up results at the patient’s bedside with a touch of a screen.

Make Your Hospital More Efficient by Simplifying Your Pulmonary Workflow

Pulmonary Server

Epiphany's Pulmonary Server allows users to access, view, edit, and electronically sign pulmonary studies and other diagnostic test data from anywhere in the hospital, office, or home.  It streamlines communications and hospital efficiency by saving time and reducing labor costs.  Just look what it did for the Cleveland Clinic.

Make Your Hospital More Efficient by Going to Paperless Rhythm Strips

Rhythm Strip Management

Epiphany's Rhythm Strip Management provides a solution to the labor-intensive challenges of patient monitoring strip management.  The application eliminates paper and the time it takes to cut it, scan it, file it, and read it.  Again, paper belongs in the past.  Anyone with access can pull up rhythm strips digitally and instantly.  This instant access reduces time and streamlines communication.

More timely communication makes hospitals more efficient.  Using these three, or even just one of these solutions, will streamline your hospital's communication.  Healthcare technology such as these applications will significantly improve the care-delivery experience for both the doctor and the patient.

 

Epiphany Healthcare prides itself on improving workflow efficiency for healthcare organizations.  Epiphany provides these organizations one software solution that manages all their different diagnostic tests.  Cardio Server allows doctors to access their ECG data and other diagnostic test results from anywhere in the healthcare organization, office, or home including smart devices.  This solution streamlines the nurse-to-doctor communication and gets results to patients sooner.

Learn More About Cardio Server

Health Centers are among the healthcare organizations that Epiphany helps to provide the best workflow solutions for.  Health Centers are non-profits that work toward the mission of serving to improve the health of patients in the community in which they live.

What is National Health Center Week

National Health Center Week is the time that is designated annually to recognize and bring awareness to America's Health Centers and the mission that drives them.  They provide necessary healthcare in the communities that need them most.  Their doors are open to virtually everyone.  They not only provide primary care to millions of patients but try to find solutions for the main health concerns within their community.

 Why Observe National Health Center Week

The people that work for Health Centers are on the front lines with bleeding hearts of hope and health for all each day.  Community health workers wear many more hats than simply assisting with healthcare needs.  They have many roles and are heroes of healthcare to people that otherwise have barriers to healthcare.  America’s Health Centers and their heroes should be recognized for the great work that they do.

How to Observe National Health Center Week

National Health Center Week in 2018 is Sunday, August 12^th through Saturday, August 18^th.  Each day has its own focus to celebrate, such as Children’s Health Day and Healthcare for the Homeless Day.  The National Association of Community Health Centers and the Health Center Advocacy Network are inviting everyone to celebrate these Health Centers and the heroes that work for them by participating in one or more of these designated days.  According to the National Health Center Week website, these are the focuses for each day.

 

Sunday, 8/12: Legislative Appreciation Day

Monday, 8/13: Honoring Health Center Heroes

Tuesday, 8/14: Public Housing Health Centers Day

Wednesday 8/15: Healthcare for the Homeless Day

Thursday, 8/16: Agricultural Worker Health Day

Friday, 8/17: Patient Appreciation Day

Saturday, 8/18: Children’s Health Day

 

If the focus days do not hit home with you or you’d like to show your appreciation to your community’s Health Center heroes in another way this week, by all means please do so.  Shout out to your Health Center heroes this week and show them some love.  Epiphany wishes all of our Health Center organizations and their staff a happy National Health Center Week.